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2017 Barcelona Test 1
Valtteri Bottas 1:19.705 (Day 3)}} The First 2017 Barcelona Test was the first official test session of the 2017 Formula One season. It took place between 27th February and 2 March 2017 over four days. The circuit is the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Pascal Wehrlein did not participate, after having to recover from injuries he received at the Race of Champions. Antonio Giovinazzi participated for alongside Marcus Ericsson. Driver running order ** Hamilton was going to participate in the morning session, but after the car suffered an electrical fault that took most of the morning to fix, he decided not to take part, leaving Bottas to use the car in the final minutes before the lunch hour. *† Massa and Stroll would have taken part on the fourth day, but terminal damage to the car after Stroll's incidents on the third day meant Williams could not compete. Overview Report Day 1 At the start of the day, Nico Hülkenberg in the Renault became the first driver to exit the pits and begin their installation laps. Following him out of the pit-lane were Bottas, Massa, Magnussen, Ericsson, Sainz, Pérez and Alonso. After only a single lap, Alonso's McLaren returns to the pit-lane. He immediately gets out of the car to chat with his engineers, the mechanics removing the engine covers from his car. McLaren look to have once again hit trouble. Thereafter the other drivers return to pit-lane after their installation laps, only Bottas in the Mercedes spends some time to set the first flying lap of the day. Only Ricciardo in the Red Bull, Vettel in the Ferrari and Sainz in the Toro Rosso have yet to venture onto the circuit. A short time later, Ricciardo elects to enter the circuit to set his first lap. After a single installation lap, Ricciardo returns to the pit-lane. The media have taken the time to gather around the Red Bull garage, desperate to get as long a view of the new RB13 for as long as possible as Ricciardo is wheeled back into the garage. As this occurs, Ericsson in the Sauber becomes the first driver to venture onto the circuit for a second time. There appears to be further trouble brewing at McLaren, the team's Engineering Director, Matt Morris, is taken some considerable time in observing the rear end of the MCL32, the mechanics having dismantled the rear of Alonso's car. Having earlier been the only driver to set a flying lap on his first run, Bottas once again ventures out on track in his Mercedes, setting further lap times on the medium compound tyre. With Bottas, now on track, he was subsequently joined by the Ferrari of Vettel, who wasted no time in beginning his first flying laps of the day. Bottas setting fastest lap after fastest lap as Vettel continues to acclimatize himself with the circuit. Vettel quickly getting up to speed and setting a 1:24.953 to take the fastest time from Bottas. Bottas subsequently answers with a 1:24.654 to retake the top spot before heading to the pits. Left alone on the circuit, Vettel continued to lap the circuit and set the pace. After ten laps, Vettel had reclaimed the fastest time with a 1:23.509, before he too returned to the pit-lane. The circuit thereafter falling silent as the team's continued to analyse their data. Six minutes later, Pérez in the Force India has re-entered the track, quickly being followed out on track by Ricciardo and Ericsson. Pérez completes a single installation lap before once again returning to the track. Ricciardo goes on to set his first timed lap of the day, however his time is a full five seconds slower than Vettel's best time. After his first timed lap, Ricciardo's car grounds to a halt at the Repsol curve at turn four. Hülkenberg had returned to the track, however the red flag is shown to clear away the stricken Red Bull. The session is stopped for fifteen minutes, Magnussen who was preparing to return to track in his Haas before the red flag, eagerly awaits the restart. Concerning the McLaren worries, Matt Morris attempts to defuse the situation by stating to Autosport's Ben Anderson that it was simply an engine mapping problem on the Honda engine. A frustrated Daniel Ricciardo has returned to the pit-lane in the back of a recovery 4x4, he immediately returns to the pits to debrief with his engineers. His teammate, Max Verstappen appears unconcerned, sitting in the garage and laughing with his father Jos. With the resumption of the green flag, both Vettel and Hülkenberg return to the track. Toro Rosso had waited a long time for their initial runs, finally opting to send Sainz out of the pits when the green flag was brought out once again. Autosport's Lawrence Barretto then reveals a disaster at McLaren, the Honda engine problem appears to be an oil systems issue which would take several hours for the team to resolve. Poor reliability continuing to plague the McLaren team. Bottas who had been putting in a number of quick laps, returned to the pits for a quick rear wing adjustment before being sent straight back out onto the circuit. Hülkenberg meanwhile begins to edge closer to the third fastest time set by Ricciardo in the Red Bull. Magnussen has now joined Bottas, Vettel and Hülkenberg out on track. Red Bull meanwhile confirm a 'sensor issue' was responsible for Ricciardo stopping his car out on track. After eighteen laps out on track, pace setter Vettel returns to the pits. After a total of nineteen laps, Bottas also returns to the pit-lane. Magnussen completes another installation lap before returning to the pits, whilst the Renault of Hülkenberg has also returned to the pits. The Renault mechanics removing the front wing section of the car, undergoing set-up changes to the car. Team boss, Cyril Abiteboul notes to Ben Anderson that "everything is fine. We'll see". Massa in the Williams now has the track to himself, he sets a time strong enough to put him third fastest, behind Vettel and Bottas. In the Sauber garage, Marcus Ericsson had stood for awhile in the pit-lane as his mechanics prepared his car, now finally ready, Ericsson hops into his car to join Massa out on track for an installation lap. An hour and a half into the session, Pérez in the Force India finally sets his first flying lap. Haas, Sauber, Toro Rosso and McLaren have yet to set a flying lap. Once Massa and Pérez return to the pits, the track is left briefly empty before Bottas returns to the track on soft tyres. As he goes past the start / finish straight for his first flying lap, the mechanics give him the pit signal 'L18'. This implying that Bottas was beginning a long stint, Mercedes therefore becoming the first team of the year to attempt a long run. Hülkenberg and Pérez both rejoin the track, Hülkenberg improving his time to go fifth fastest. Bottas has also set the new benchmark with a 1:23.607. Hülkenberg also further improving his best time. Vettel, still running the mediums has returned to the track, as has, Ericsson in the Sauber. Ericsson setting his first lap time to go seventh fastest. Commenting on the failure by McLaren-Honda, Gary Anderson notes "Losing a big part of a day is time you will never recover, and by the time the McLaren runs again, most of its rivals will have built up a lot of mileage. We've seen a lot of finger problems for McLaren and Honda during the past few years, and maybe this is the same again. Not a good start to testing." Meanwhile on track, Pérez had briefly taken the third fastest time, before Massa responds and sets a new benchmark for third place. Massa is still 2.4 seconds off the pace of the Mercedes and Ferrari being run by Bottas and Vettel respectively. Bottas meanwhile was setting steady lap times on his long run stint, he was not lapping as fast as his earlier stints, however the Mercedes driver had continued to complete more laps than any of the other cars. Massa is also making a steady improvement to his time. However Magnussen has encountered troubles, the Haas driver stopping his car at the entrance of the pit-lane. His mechanics having to wheel his car down the garage and back to his pit garage. As Pérez and Massa returned to the pits, Bottas was once again left as the only car on track. The Mercedes returning to the pits after an 18 lap stint, Bottas having completed a total of 39 laps so far that day. Returning to the track is Hülkenberg, whilst Sainz also ventures onto the circuit. The Toro Rosso finally setting his first lap of the day to go sixth fastest. Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Best times By day By driver Most laps by a driver: Valtteri Bottas ( ), 324. Most laps by a team: , 558. Most laps in a day: Sebastian Vettel ( ), 139 (day 3). Times Day One, 27 February Source: Day Two, 28 February Source: Day Three, 1 March Source: Day Four, 2 March Source: Notes Category:Pre-season testing Category:2017 Formula One Season